Baku, Azerbaijan, April 23

Trend:

There is no accumulation of military equipment on the frontline, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said in a message on April 23.

"It is not excluded that supporters of the bloody and criminal regime, whose power ended in Armenia, are attempting to resort to various provocations with a view to aggravate the situation on the contact line of the troops," the ministry said.

In this regard, the Defense Ministry announced that the operational situation along the whole frontline zone is under complete control of the Azerbaijani troops.

"Azerbaijan's army units seriously follow the ceasefire regime. We are not supporters of the escalation, and the Defense Ministry does not accumulate military equipment on the frontline," the ministry noted.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry stated that any enemy provocation aimed at aggravating the situation on the contact line of the troops will be immediately, decisively and severely suppressed.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.